Miliband and PM lock horns over rail fares January 11, 2012 A TIT-FOR-TAT exchange between David Cameron and Ed Miliband erupted in parliament yesterday, after the Labour leader hit out at some 11 per cent hikes in rail fares. Miliband blamed the coalition for exorbitant fare increases, yet Prime Minister Cameron said the power to raise prices was given to train companies “by the last Labour [...]
Sainsbury’s sales top forecasts January 11, 2012 Grocer J Sainsbury beat Christmas sales forecasts as store extensions and its expansion into convenience outlets, online shopping and non-food ranges helped it weather a tough market. Britain’s third-biggest supermarket group behind Wal-Mart’s Asda and industry leader Tesco said on Wednesday sales at stores open over a year rose 2.1 per cent excluding fuel in [...]
Commodities spur FTSE 100 gains as banks bounce bank January 10, 2012 COMMODITY stocks led the FTSE 100 top share index higher yesterday, after Alcoa kicked off the US earnings season with an upbeat outlook and data from China lifted sentiment, while retailers rallied after some encouraging updates. London’s blue chip index rose 84.44 points, or 1.5 per cent to 5,696.70, making up for the 1.5 pe [...]
Resource stocks stoke FTSE gains January 10, 2012 The FTSE 100 saw solid gains this morning as resource and energy stocks were boosted by upbeat forecasts from US aluminium giant Alcoa and figures showing growing demand from China. Alcoa, the largest US aluminium producer, reported fourth-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, even though it registered a loss. The earnings news had a [...]
Asian clamour for safe investments lifts City property January 9, 2012 THE CITY and the Docklands enjoyed a big lift in commercial property deals last year, with £6.3bn changing hands through 108 transactions, new figures show. Activity was up 34 per cent by value on a year ago, according to real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, with overseas funds making almost half of all purchases. Asian [...]
FTSE dented by GSK January 9, 2012 The FTSE 100 was dented by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline today after concerns over one of its new treatments. GSK shed 2.6 per cent after reported problems with tests on its lung medication Relovair. Traders and investors were eyeing events in Berlin where German leader Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are meeting today. The [...]
To revive a weak economy small firms must be able to become tomorrow’s giants January 8, 2012 AT THE dawn of a New Year, one bright spot across the gloom of the economic horizon remains Britain’s army of entrepreneurs – those remarkable men and women who have the drive and passion to launch and run their own business. For it is these often family-owned ventures – the small and medium enterprises (SME) [...]
FTSE steady as investors eye US jobs data January 6, 2012 The FTSE 100 was steady in early trading with media and telecoms gains offsetting weak financial services and retail sectors. Investors were focusing on US jobs data out later while the Eurozone debt crisis continued to dampen sentiment. Analysts’ fears that Eurozone countries and banks could struggle to tap markets for capital this year continue [...]
Blacks Leisure heads for prepack administration January 6, 2012 Blacks Leisure has it is to temporarily to enter administration ahead of a takeover deal. The prepack arrangement will wipe out the value of existing shares, which have now been suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange. The retailer said it was mulling offers for the business and that a deal was likely to [...]
JJB enjoys an uplift in sales for Christmas January 5, 2012 SPORTS retailer JJB, which was on the verge of collapse last year, has battled its way through the crucial Christmas period, reporting a five per cent lift in like-for-like sales in December. JJB’s second-half like-for-like sales fell by 7.8 per cent while margins fell by 3.2 per cent, it said yesterday. But this was still [...]